Homer, Virginia Woolf, Giono, Margaret Atwood, Céline … 10 masters of literature

Tales of epics, romantic poetry, anti-fascist novels, these works have shaped the genre to which they belong, making their authors as popular as their characters.

1- Homer

Pure fiction for some, a Sicilian princess for others, the creator of The Iliad and The odyssey remains a mystery to many. 3,000 years of history have made Homer a myth that has fueled the fantasies of many biographers. But here’s what we really know about him.

2- Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, romantic pioneer

Rare woman poet, admired by Verlaine and Rimbaud, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore has inspired generations of lyricists and singers, until today. But do you know the one who invented the 11-syllable verse?

3- Jean Giono, writer of human violence

Giono is often considered a writer of Provencal folklore, but he refuted this term. Although little mentioned, war is still present in his mind, it shines through in his works, imprints of darkness. What if Jean Giono was, in fact, one of the greatest writers of human violence?

4- Virginia Woolf, the sensual

An avant-garde woman, feminist, Virginia Woolf is one of the greatest authors of the 20th century. Often described as rigid, depressed, lonely, she nevertheless maintained strong and intimate relationships with both sexes. Portrait of Virginia and her fluid loves.

5- Stieg Larsson, the anti-fascist activist

World famous for its trilogy Millennium, the Swede Stieg Larsson is less so for his relentless activism against the far right to which he had dedicated his life. And that will earn him dozens of death threats for years to come. Here is the portrait of Stieg Larsson, internationally known Nordic thriller who died before seeing his work published.

6- Céline, a double life

We know the genius of letters, the controversial and notorious anti-Semitic writer. But Louis-Ferdinand Céline was also a doctor. He who called himself a “healer” saw medicine as a vocation. It is therefore quite natural that his first writing is a medical novel. Subsequently, he will write his most famous work, journey to the Edge of the Night.

7- Agatha Christie, reine du crime

World famous for her many novels, with heroes just as famous as herself, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, Agatha Christie is nonetheless a mysterious novelist. All her life, she will be inspired by her daily life, the spiritualism which her mother loves and the travels of her husband, to create the most elaborate intrigues. (Re) discover the writer fascinated by the murders.

8- Goliarda Sapienza, marginal subversive

Anarchist, resistant, feminist, bisexual, she is the author of one of the masterpieces of the twentieth century, The Art of Joy. Here is the portrait of Goliarda Sapienza, who defines herself as “a disheveled Marxist nun” who did not enter the literary pantheon until ten years after her death.

9- Erri de Luca, the traveling writer

Polyglot, worker mountaineer, environmental activist, he is one of the most important intellectuals of his generation. A Neapolitan at heart, the writer Erri De Luca remains attached to the idea of ​​Europe and pleads for “a closer European union”. Here is the polymorphous and magnificent life of Erri De Luca.

10- Margaret Atwood, the novelist

She grew up isolated in a Canadian forest, but always surrounded by books. It was therefore natural that Margaret Atwood turned to writing. First criticism of consumer society, then criticism of male domination. Here is the portrait of the novelist known across the continents thanks to the adaptation of her dystopian novel The Scarlet Maid.

–